President John Dramani Mahama has promised to gift a car to any chief whose traditional area is able to grow the most trees in the Upper East Region.

The President made the promise during his ‘changing lives and transforming Ghana’ tour in the regional capital, Bolgatanga.

He said the Youth Employment Agency Bill that has been passed by Parliament will recruit over 1,000 young people and beneficiaries, particularly in the Upper East Region, to be part of an afforestation programme aimed at stemming the tide of climate change in the area.

Mr Mahama said a lot of the youth should go into tree planting to improve the vegetation cover of the area.

The President said the youth employment agency will work together with chiefs to grow more trees.

As an incentive towards making the tree planting exercise a success, the President promised: “I will personally donate a car to the chief whose traditional area is able to grow the most trees and I will let the regional minister, James Zuugah Tiigah, start designing a programme so that when we start, it will be a competition to see who can grow the most trees, and I will personally donate a car to any of the paramount or divisional chiefs, who will win this trophy”.